


Love in the Time of Quarantine

by asyouwish76, MoonandWinter



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adorable, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Living Together, Love in dark times, Post-Hogwarts, Quarantine, Romance, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:36:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23788687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asyouwish76/pseuds/asyouwish76, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonandWinter/pseuds/MoonandWinter
Summary: A simple, easy, off the grid assignment would do Hermione some good. The same could be said for Draco. But neither expected their partner to be the other, and neither could anticipate the virus that is keeping them both on lock down, stuck in the middle of nowhere with only each other as company.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	1. A Break Away

Draco knew this assignment was top tier dog shite. It was the bottom of the barrel in terms of danger and actual work.

Which was, at this point, exactly why he took the last minute, low information manila folder from the ministry grunt who handed out assignments. That and the fact that he, as an ex-death eater, didn’t get to pick from the big cases.

He had, however, been assigned one last month. It was a raid on a death eater apologist camp, full to the brim with illegal dark objects. Some he even unfortunately recognized. But he hadn’t let the leers and slurs of those arrested bother him. That part of his life was over.

He was working towards some weird sort of redemption. But the aftermath of that case, and the painful curse that almost felled him mid raid, had done a number on his sleeping schedule.

Nightmares were abound and the ghostly faces of his past taunted him from the minute he closed his eyes. It had been several years since he’d last had any such anxiety dreams, but he knew the ministry was testing him to see if he could handle the big ones. And he was damn sure he could.

But this little side assignment would help get his mind of the last one, and hopefully be a pleasant distraction. It was, from the brief overview, a muggle village with an outreach division, complete with room and board. He and some other low-level trainee would be secretly working to locate any magical items that may have snuck into the muggle village via antique show.

Simple, slow paced, and hopefully with some nit who would know to leave him be do to the work in blessed silence.

~

Hermione Granger could argue all day, in fact it was one of her favorite past-times, but the truth of the matter was, she was plum tired.

Ron and Pansy were expecting baby number 3, and while she’d grown to love them all, she also cringed at the visits to the Burrow.

Not because of the people, per say, but rather the amount of people. Rooms had of course been added to the lopsided and dangerously tall house that the Weasleys called home. Even still, there wasn’t enough _room_!

Couple that with the fact that Hermione was the only single, childless person there, getting all of hints and blatant mothering from Mrs. Weasly, Hermione was about ready to scream.

Which she would have, had an owl from the ministry not flutter in through the open kitchen window, making the several read headed grandchildren clap and squeal in delight.

Hermione knew it was an assignment, and was more thankful now than ever. She had asked the kind young girl who worked the Auror detail to send her the first out of town case that came across her desk, no matter how big or small.

The silken barn owl had barely come to a stop when Hermione was on her feet and gathering her cloak.

“Duty calls! No cant stay. Love you all. No Molly, it’s not a date. It’s a job. Ok, thanks again, BYE!”

And in a flurry of bags and curly brown hair, Hermione was through the fireplace and spiraling towards a blessed vacation from the chaos of The Burrow.


	2. Surprise!

Hermione arrived at the apparation point she had been given. She stood in a copse of trees overlooking a beautiful and quaint little village. All around her was silence, blissful silence. She looked down at the community of rustic homes and little shops and saw a couple people meandering around going about their daily routines, but there was none of the hustle and bustle from back home. It looked so utterly peaceful.

She quickly made her way down the hill to the assigned flat without garnering too much attention. Or any attention at all really. Where was everyone? It was a warm Sunday afternoon after all and she had expected to see people out for walks or going to the shops, but it was surprisingly empty.

No matter, she had come here for some peace and quiet hadn’t she? Looks like that was precisely what she would get.

Checking the letter from the ministry she found the correct flat number and unlocked the door without a word or wand. It was small but cozy. 2 bedrooms for her and whoever her partner was, as well as a small but working kitchen and a living area. Everything was wonderfully clean and held the appeal of well-kept English cottage.

She hoped her partner was someone who would just leave her alone and let her relax, when she wasn’t working of course. Hermione was anything but a slacker.

As she thought this, she heard the unmistakable sound of the shower turning off in the bathroom. She looked around frantically wondering what she should do. Should she sit on the couch nonchalantly? Should she go out the door and come back in after a couple of minutes?

Before she could make her mind up, the bathroom door opened and Draco Malfoy stepped out in only a towel as Hermione looked on like a deer in the headlights. She recognized the hair first, though was quickly lost to the other, more obvious sights.

She let out some kind of mortifying squeak, but couldn’t tear her eyes away from his surprisingly well developed abs, and the absolutely sinful droplets of water that ran down said torso.

“Granger?” he asked dumbfounded, looking at her with mirrored confusion.

“Er...yep. That’s me,” she said stupidly, finally tearing her eyes away and looking anywhere but him.

“Don’t tell me you’re my partner for the outreach program?”

Hermione looked at him again. Did the man not know he was naked under the towel?! Just going to have a conversation in the hallway with his… everything barely covered?

“Looks like it,” she muttered. She knew she should care more that Draco Malfoy was the man she had to live with for the next week, but this whole situation threw her off and she could really do no more than the basics of speech. A jolt like his nearly naked body had shocked him momentarily stupid.

If someone had told her yesterday that a wet Draco Malfoy in a towel would have this effect on her she would have laughed herself hoarse. And yet, here he was, and here she was acting like a giddy school girl.

She didn’t even like the git. No, not in the least! Despite his newly acquired reputation in the ministry as a standup citizen and Auror, she couldn’t shake the years of torment from him.

It’s just that, well, it had been so long since she’d been with anything resembling a man. Even Malfoy looked appealing at this point. Positively decadent, if one were to put a phrase to the sight of him…

She took in one last look and then mentally shook her head. _Get a hold of yourself_ , she thought, _this is Malfoy for Merlin’s sake._

“You don’t have any thoughts about this situation?” He asked, raising his eyebrows. Oh dear. Could he see her desperation? Merlin, she hoped not.

“It’s not a big deal,” she said, sighing the sigh of the long suffering as if she hadn’t just been openly ogling him, “we can split up the locations and work separately, we’ll barely even see each other.”

“Really? The Heroine of Hogwarts doesn’t mind sharing a job with the son of Slytherin?” Draco smirked, resting his hip on the wall and crossing his arms. His casual pose highlighted his obnoxiously toned forearms and biceps, leaving Hermione to wonder if he worked out.

“Yes, Malfoy. I came to do a nice, simple, quiet job, and I’ll be damned if it’s anything but.” She announced, nodding to at her own conviction.

Just as she said that, both of their wands started vibrating and lighting up with some kind of alert.

“This is an emergency alert,” a monotone female voice sounded from their wands, “your location has been contaminated. You are directed to remain in quarantine until further notice.”

The wands repeated the message two more times as a barn owl swooped in the open window, dropped a letter on the floor, and swiftly left.

The look of shared shock made the growing knot in Hermione’s stomach change from desire to concern. A moment ticked by as they stared at each other, brows drawn close.

After another second passed, Draco walked past her, bent down and grabbed the letter, reading it aloud:

Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Granger,

The ministry has received word of a viral outbreak in the village you are residing in. Symptoms for witches and wizards include fever, body aches, unpredictable magic, as well as temporary loss of magic entirely. Symptoms for muggles are fever, body aches, and chest pains resulting possible death. You are hereby ordered to stay in your residence under quarantine until such time the ministry deems it safe to return. You may leave the residence only for sustenance or outdoor exercise on your own property.

Please, be careful. Until we can learn more about this quick moving virus, you must not travel.

Stay healthy,

Kingley Shacklebolt

Minister of Magic

Draco finished reading the letter and they stared at each other in horror. His hands shook as he adjusted his wand, but dropped the letter, and as it floated to the ground, so too did his towel, if only for a moment.

He hurriedly covered himself, but Hermione was so lost in thought about the ramifications of the letter that she had barely even noticed. This was going to be a hard assignment. Maybe the hardest she had ever faced.


End file.
